Enjoying Retirement

[dmahon]

Seventyseven7 said:

Anyone here retired relatively young, as in late 30’s to early 40’s? What’s your experience been like, how have you filled the time without working?

I semi retired in my late 30s.

To be honest, I’ve struggled to find the right balance. Drifted in and out of work projects half heartedly for lack of anything better to do, been a bit isolated after Covid and WFH, feel quite aimless and not sure how to fill the time. I think I was too boring and work obsessed before retiring which left a gap to fill due to lack of hobbies and everyone I know being related to work in some way.

I have more good than bad days nowadays as I’ve settled into it, found a few interests and made some new connections, but it’s still a work in progress. Travel opening up more is also good for the lifestyle. I have a few trips planned including the World Cup later this year which I wouldn’t have been able to do before.

A bit of me wishes I pushed through until say 45 as I’ve missed out on peak earning years. Travel has been limited and I have kids at school anyway, so may as well as stayed productive and saved more for retirement. I also wished I had prepped for retirement better by having more hobbies and ways to fill the time.

On the upside, I don’t miss office politics, commutes, difficult customers, difficult employees, high taxes, woke corporate culture etc so not really regretting what I’ve left behind. The money I would earn by working wouldn’t really move the needle, particularly as I doubt I could return at the same salary level.

Maybe I have one more business in me if I can find the right idea and motivation. Or maybe I accept retired status and try to enjoy it more. I’ve wrestled with this for 4 years now but feel like I’m close to going one way or the other!

Money wise I’ll be fine, but I do worry about money much than I did when I was working. Market gyrations, bear markets, inflation, interest rates etc. It’s mega stressful thinking your pot has to last you for 40 years. It’s another downside to an early retirement even if you are observing eg the 4% rule.

Edited by dmahon on Saturday 25th June 10:31

[nickfrog]

Carbon Sasquatch said:

My point was that if you didn't already have a plan, then sequence of returns was likely to be the problem. Particularly the actual point I was replying to, about bringing forward the retirement date by a year or two.

I guess at this point it's not a 'risk' but rather just a fact.....particularly if you're referring to a plan you made a year or more ago.

My 'plan' was to have a couple of years in cash - and overall it works as long as long tern, the investments at least match inflation. I also have a holiday home I can sell at some point if I need to. -Not sure whether that counts as 'a lot of contingency'. So whilst I clearly don't like the current environment, I have some time for things to change before I start to panic.

Anyway - I retired yesterday so fingers crossed

Well done.

You quite rightly highlight the obvious rule 1 of mitigating measures against risk, including adverse sequencing thingy : diversification.

Putting all your money in one asset class is dangerous.

We only have 18 months cash left before the official start of drawdown at 55 so not great but on the other hand we still have a BTL so that might need to get the chop.

[gareth h]

MrsMiggins said:

I'm firmly aiming at the latter, but with a couple of motorcycle tours each year while I'm able. Other than that it'll be walking the dog and mucking around at home.

That’s pretty much where I am, fortunately since moving to west wales the wife’s travel itch seems to have vanished too, it’s amazing how little you actually need when you are happy with your surroundings.

[Monkeylegend]

OldSkoolRS said:

Carbon Sasquatch said:

Anyway - I retired yesterday so fingers crossed

Congratulations and welcome to the club.

I retired 7 years ago without a hint of a plan and have been winging it and enjoying it ever since.

If you are not careful you spend too much time and energy sorting out detailed financial plans, travel plans etc, then along comes things like covid, brexit, euro wars, rampant inflation, train strikes, airport meltdowns, etc, and bugger them all up so why bother.

All this talk about spreadsheets, cash flows, detailing monthly spend down to the last penny etc, gives me the shudders.

Retirement is all about freedom and enjoyment, doing things on a whim, not burdening yourself with questions like can I afford it, and have I got enough health insurance in place, and will I live until I am 93.

Just do it and enjoy it, the rest will take care of itself

[JeremyH5]

Monkeylegend said:

I retired 7 years ago without a hint of a plan and have been winging it and enjoying it ever since.

If you are not careful you spend too much time and energy sorting out detailed financial plans, travel plans etc, then along comes things like covid, brexit, euro wars, rampant inflation, train strikes, airport meltdowns, etc, and bugger them all up so why bother.

All this talk about spreadsheets, cash flows, detailing monthly spend down to the last penny etc, gives me the shudders.

Retirement is all about freedom and enjoyment, doing things on a whim, not burdening yourself with questions like can I afford it, and have I got enough health insurance in place, and will I live until I am 93.

Just do it and enjoy it, the rest will take care of itself

You make a very good point here. Although I’m a spreadsheet nerd, as an accountant it goes with the territory, I have used rough and ready annualised numbers in my short and sweet plan. Now I know the rough outline I’m happy to just wing it as you advise.

[Jaguar steve]

Monkeylegend said:

All this talk about spreadsheets, cash flows, detailing monthly spend down to the last penny etc, gives me the shudders.

Retirement is all about freedom and enjoyment, doing things on a whim, not burdening yourself with questions like can I afford it, and have I got enough health insurance in place, and will I live until I am 93.

Just do it and enjoy it, the rest will take care of itself

Yeah me too. Things you can't do anything about aren't worth worrying about.

You can always cut your spend a bit or find contentment in doing things that don't cost a lot or get a part time job or some agency work or downsize your home or expensive hobby if money gets tight.

Meanwhile find pleasure and peace of mind in every moment of every day while you still can.

[wong]

I retired ~3 years ago, moved back to UK and then Covid hit 9 months later. Haven't been abroad since. But funnily enough, I don't miss being abroad on holiday. Everyday seems like a holiday, with no fixed schedule. Previously left for work at 9 and didn't get home until 8pm.
Started more DIY, picked up running again. Picked up weight lifting for the first time to stave off osteoporosis and muscle wasting as you get older.

[mikeiow]

Monkeylegend said:

OldSkoolRS said:

Carbon Sasquatch said:

Anyway - I retired yesterday so fingers crossed

Congratulations and welcome to the club.

I retired 7 years ago without a hint of a plan and have been winging it and enjoying it ever since.

If you are not careful you spend too much time and energy sorting out detailed financial plans, travel plans etc, then along comes things like covid, brexit, euro wars, rampant inflation, train strikes, airport meltdowns, etc, and bugger them all up so why bother.

All this talk about spreadsheets, cash flows, detailing monthly spend down to the last penny etc, gives me the shudders.

Retirement is all about freedom and enjoyment, doing things on a whim, not burdening yourself with questions like can I afford it, and have I got enough health insurance in place, and will I live until I am 93.

Just do it and enjoy it, the rest will take care of itself

Congrats to Carbon: you won’t regret it!

As to winging it without a hint of a plan: an admirable ethos, but I feel you surely MUST have had some idea of what money you needed to be happy on?
Unless you have either shedloads of money stashed away or a secret job bumbling along to cover those emergencies. Or perhaps very low needs & expectations!
I do agree that the focus of retirement should not be done to the Nth degree….life is certainly too short for that, & I suspect there are a huge number who continue for one more year (OMY syndrome) because they are conditioned to be overly cautious….

Retire TO something, not FROM something: move on to the next chapter, but failure to plan is, as they say, planning to fail….

A good day today….almost completed a rather ‘unique’ patio (sadly I under-ordered the magic Fusion grout: bah!)….nice family lunch in an Abbey cafe…..a swim in the sea, some crazy live music and a nice dinner with good friends.
Happy days!

Edited by mikeiow on Sunday 26th June 00:47

[GT3Manthey]

mikeiow said:

Congrats to Carbon: you won’t regret it!

As to winging it without a hint of a plan: an admirable ethos, but I feel you surely MUST have had some idea of what money you needed to be happy on?
Unless you have either shedloads of money stashed away or a secret job bumbling along to cover those emergencies. Or perhaps very low needs & expectations!
I do agree that the focus of retirement should not be done to the Nth degree….life is certainly too short for that, & I suspect there are a huge number who continue for one more year (OMY syndrome) because they are conditioned to be overly cautious….

Retire TO something, not FROM something: move on to the next chapter, but failure to plan is, as they say, planning to fail….

A good day today….almost completed a rather ‘unique’ patio (sadly I under-ordered the magic Fusion grout: bah!)….nice family lunch in an Abbey cafe…..a swim in the sea, some crazy live music and a nice dinner with good friends.
Happy days!

Edited by mikeiow on Sunday 26th June 00:47

Morning Mike .

I agree planning is key . That said these last few months have probably thrown some plans a little into touch for some, not all.

Have a zoom with WM later this week so will update accordingly.

Notice news today retirees cashing in on high house prices to combat the cost of living issue , makes sense so it’ll be interesting to see what happens with house prices too given some ( myself included) would be looking to downsize as part of my pot .

Love a sea swim. Where do you swim exactly ?

I was enjoying a lovely dip myself Saturday although it was a little choppy . I swam at Frinton on sea

[Jaguar steve]

GT3Manthey said:

Notice news today retirees cashing in on high house prices to combat the cost of living issue , makes sense so it’ll be interesting to see what happens with house prices too given some ( myself included) would be looking to downsize as part of my pot .

We did a downsize and moved to a more rural and considerably cheaper area some years ago.

The proceeds from doing so provided a useful lift to our income which in turn allowed us to retire earlier than we otherwise might have done.

[plenty]

Monkeylegend said:

Retirement is all about freedom and enjoyment, doing things on a whim, not burdening yourself with questions like can I afford it, and have I got enough health insurance in place, and will I live until I am 93.

The world can be (simplistically) divided into people who wing it, and people who plan.

Telling one to be more like the other is pointless. I'm a planner and a life lived on a whim isn't a fulfilling one. There is satisfaction in the planning, not just the outcome.

But I fully accept you might not see it that way. You do you, and I'll do me

[Monkeylegend]

plenty said:

Monkeylegend said:

Retirement is all about freedom and enjoyment, doing things on a whim, not burdening yourself with questions like can I afford it, and have I got enough health insurance in place, and will I live until I am 93.

The world can be (simplistically) divided into people who wing it, and people who plan.

Telling one to be more like the other is pointless. I'm a planner and a life lived on a whim isn't a fulfilling one. There is satisfaction in the planning, not just the outcome.

But I fully accept you might not see it that way. You do you, and I'll do me

I wasn't suggesting anybody should do it my way, just that I am not the type of person who spends time drawing up spreadsheets and detailing every single penny I am likely to spend so I can work put how much I will need.

I hate detail and have spent my whole life not getting bogged down in the minutiae.

I have great belief that things will always sort themselves out, and so far I have not been disappointed.

Each to their own as you say.

[Derek Chevalier]

superlightr said:

Im confused - could you elaborate please- relatively modest market falls? YTD they are what 20% down? S & P 500

As mentioned on another thread, our miserable £ has meant that falls in GBP (which is what we care about) have been far more muted.

S&P, MSCI World/ACWI, FTSE Global All Cap are down around 9.5% YTD.

I'll answer the other points on a dedicated thread.

Edited by Derek Chevalier on Tuesday 28th June 08:21

[Mezger]

I appreciate this is entirely personal and down to your spending/anticipated spending habits post retirement, however I am curious how people get to 'their number'?

Is it 25x current living expenses, or build a portfolio and pick a safe withdrawal rate,3.5 or 4%?

[Carbon Sasquatch]

Mezger said:

I appreciate this is entirely personal and down to your spending/anticipated spending habits post retirement, however I am curious how people get to 'their number'?

Is it 25x current living expenses, or build a portfolio and pick a safe withdrawal rate,3.5 or 4%?

Your number is always a bit of an estimate - maybe based on current spending or maybe not - it has to be based on your expected spending in retirement which may be more or less than your current outgoings. They may also change over time - I'm expecting my spending to reduce as I age and so modelled it in 5 year blocks.

Then there's estimating how long you will live....

Finally you can figure out how to fund it - which is where the portfolio and withdrawal rate comes in. Also factor in the state pension & any private pensions.

There are loads of variables - so it's always an estimate which can then be stress tested against historical events and give you a probability of success. So there's then another decision - what level of probable success is good enough ? And what adjustments could you make to increase the probability.

It's hours of fun

[GT3Manthey]

Carbon Sasquatch said:

Your number is always a bit of an estimate - maybe based on current spending or maybe not - it has to be based on your expected spending in retirement which may be more or less than your current outgoings. They may also change over time - I'm expecting my spending to reduce as I age and so modelled it in 5 year blocks.

Then there's estimating how long you will live....

Finally you can figure out how to fund it - which is where the portfolio and withdrawal rate comes in. Also factor in the state pension & any private pensions.

There are loads of variables - so it's always an estimate which can then be stress tested against historical events and give you a probability of success. So there's then another decision - what level of probable success is good enough ? And what adjustments could you make to increase the probability.

It's hours of fun

I’ve been through mine being sure to add in literally all current and future costs which also includes a holiday fund and uni fees.

As we’ve discussed before Carbon , everyone’s situation is different so there is no one size fits all .

Looks like I may take some part time work as and when the time comes just to give me something to do and extra cash being a bonus so to speak

[GT3Manthey]

Just checked my pension statement and for the year to date it’s down around 6%.

Obviously not happy but cash will be the back up .

Given the extent of some of the moves I’m thinking 6% isn’t that bad

Edited by GT3Manthey on Monday 27th June 19:10

[Phil.]

GT3Manthey said:

Just checked my pension statement and for the year to date it’s down around 6%.

Obviously not happy but cash will be the back up .

Given the extent of some of the moves I’m thinking 6% isn’t that bad

Edited by GT3Manthey on Monday 27th June 19:10

What has happened (broadly) is significant rises in the latter part of 2021 followed by significant losses during most of 2022. My investments are at pre-Covid levels but 17% down on their peak earlier this year. I’m expecting at least 2 years for them to return to their peak value.

[mikeiow]

GT3Manthey said:

Morning Mike .

I agree planning is key . That said these last few months have probably thrown some plans a little into touch for some, not all.

Have a zoom with WM later this week so will update accordingly.

Notice news today retirees cashing in on high house prices to combat the cost of living issue , makes sense so it’ll be interesting to see what happens with house prices too given some ( myself included) would be looking to downsize as part of my pot .

Love a sea swim. Where do you swim exactly ?

I was enjoying a lovely dip myself Saturday although it was a little choppy . I swam at Frinton on sea

We have a holiday cottage on the IOW - Saturday we got in the sea at Ventnor for a cheeky dip. Chilly, but fine once you were in (standard for this time of year, and the sun was shining on us).
Whilst listening to the singing of the crazy Derek Sandy outside a beach pub (yes, he sang this cracker too!). A private party, but anyone could listen in and jig about if they wanted….some seriously smashed guests staggering along, & he really is quite entertaining ). Nice meal with some pals at the Spyglass to round off the night.


On the pension falls….suffice to say mine were much greater than yours
….but it always depends where you measure from. You went YTD: mine is down around 20% from start of Jan….but of course it was even higher at the peak of the start of November. This is the self-flagellating pleasure I get from monitoring our finances on a weekly basis since stepping back from the regular wage. I am getting better at maybe only monitoring every couple of weeks now…

I figure the numbers will eventually creep back up…..and I did e-chat yesterday with a younger pal who remains at the technical coalface….he sent me a picture of the massive queue he was in at Schipol on a work trip (something I definitely do not miss): I sent him a selfie from the garden down here

Enjoyment today will include some weeding and hedging, and admiring the crazy paved patio we completed yesterday, complete with 6’ x 8’ Isle of Wight shape (artists interpretation, not to scale!) cunningly placed in the middle. Might also need a in the village local, which reopened last night under enthusiastic new management: hurrah!!
Back/knees/legs/arms aching, but feeling stronger than when we came down!

Edited by mikeiow on Tuesday 28th June 06:49

Edited by mikeiow on Tuesday 28th June 06:49

[GT3Manthey]

Phil. said:

What has happened (broadly) is significant rises in the latter part of 2021 followed by significant losses during most of 2022. My investments are at pre-Covid levels but 17% down on their peak earlier this year. I’m expecting at least 2 years for them to return to their peak value.

Tks Phil this makes me feel quite relieved phew!

Also reading Mike’s post above gives me some comfort .


I suppose when you are busy working and retirement is a long way off you don’t think of what your pension might be up to with the various P+L swings but suddenly it all comes back into play.

My cousin age 67 & very fit of his age ( tennis , golf , walking etc) had a suspected heart attack last Friday .
He still works on various projects ( mainly house builds) so it’s time he stopped and fully retired.

Brings it home how quickly things can change.

Meeting with WM Thursday so will update